Comfort

The Our Daily Bread notes one morning recently reminded me of an important truth about the word “comfort”. 

The story was about someone who emerged from an operation in a highly agitated state. This person had a breathing tube down his throat and his arms were restrained by the side of him in order to stop him pulling the vital tube out. With the stress of it all he was shaking and struggling. Then a nurse came and, to his surprise, held his hand. It was a gentle gesture which had a most powerful effect. The man calmed down straight away.

The word “comfort” is not just about soothing someone. It has more to do with empowering and strengthening them.

It reminded me of an illustration from the Bayeux Tapestry, the massive, 68-metre-long piece of embroidery that takes the viewer through the story of the Norman Conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.

During that event, an unexplained fit of panic set in among the Norman knights, causing them to flee in disorder. The battle threatened to turn against the Normans. Then a Norman bishop, who had a club in his hand because he was not allowed to wield a spear, rode up and prodded some of the knights in the back, encouraging them to turn around, face the foe and attack again. It proved to be the turning point in the battle.

The caption above it literally reads, “Bishop Odo is ‘comforting’ his lads.” We plainly see that the original meaning of the word which we know as “comfort” is to encourage someone, to spur them on to new ventures.

The word “comfort” is used some 80 times in the Bible. Try reading it with its original meaning of “encourage” and see what picture it gives you. The apostle Paul keeps repeating it deliberately in his second letter to the Christians at Corinth:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV, emphasis mine).

In the original language, this gives a picture of somebody coming alongside someone else (rather than riding up behind them!) and speaking to them words which will spur them on to take courage.

Jesus Christ wishes to encourage you to take heart and walk confidently through life with Him today. In turn, you may be able to encourage someone else who is struggling by telling them His story and giving them His message.

Time

I write this on the evening the clocks are due to change. I always remember which way it goes by means of the old saying, “Spring forward, Fall back“. In the Spring the clocks go forward one hour; in the Fall, or Autumn, they go back an hour and many of us feel the benefit: we gain an hour of precious night‘s sleep.

Our earthbound human race is one that is trapped in time. This is very significant because we have a God who is outside time. That much is made clear in the book of Revelation, which I am preaching about in our Sunday services at the moment. God in Christ is the First and the Last, and the Living One – the Alpha and Omega or, in modern lettering, the A and the Z. Past, present and future are all alike before God’s gaze at any one time.

If we thought about it, we would love to be able to step outside of time. Time can be a very frustrating commodity. It may hang heavy for us. On the other hand, it may move too fast for us. We often wish there were 25 hours in the day and eight days in the week because our work is never done.

It seems to me that one of the advantages that Jesus left to one side when He came from heaven to this earth was the advantage of being outside of time. As a citizen of earth He learned the frustrations that are second nature to us. He was no doubt anxious to get going on the mission God His Father had given Him to do – though he had to wait for the right time to embark upon it. Towards the end of His earthly ministry, He had to wait day after agonising day anticipating the unspeakable horror of the coming crucifixion.

And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:37-39 ESV

I can spot just two consolations for our Saviour in the midst of this long-drawn-out agony. One is that He would never be seen to become aged and lose His vigour (in human terms). In a few weeks’ time we shall hear the Ode to the Fallen, the young victims of two world wars, read out:

They grow not old, as we who are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

But infinitely greater for our Saviour would be the fact that He could shout at the very end, “It is finished” - “Mission accomplished”. The salvation of millions who have put their trust in Him was sealed and delivered by those two words. It would have been worth every tormenting minute as far as Jesus was concerned. If you make Him your trust, that’s one more soul added to the worth of it. Eternity will not be long enough to contain the joy.

Forecasting the Weather

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed. Matthew 16:1-4 ESV
 
Weather apps are very popular on smartphones. There are many to choose from and I have quite a selection on my equipment. I often act as though that entitles me to be an instant expert, somebody who can accurately predict the weather for whatever events people are concerned about. To my frustration, I end up finding that everybody seems to know what the weather is going to do except me!

The apps let me down constantly. I ditch them in disgust and then put them back in case I was a little too hasty. In fact I have discovered that the forecast details can be taken in several different ways, and I am going on a course to try to understand how to interpret them more accurately.

Our Bible reading refers to a piece of weather lore that has been tried and tested over the course of many centuries. “Red sky at night – shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning – shepherd’s warning.” Scientists have demonstrated that the old proverb can be backed up scientifically.

The Jewish experts in the law clearly knew about this saying and used it effectively. However, they were much less spot-on when it came to interpreting the signs of the times. In Jesus, God’s activity was manifest right in front of them and they just could not see it.
Jesus perceived that it was not out of stupidity or lack of imagination that they failed to see the obvious. It was simply because they were perverse and didn’t want to see. 

They have their counterparts today who simply will not accept clear, evident facts because of fear and prejudice. They have a vested interest in promoting lies and fantasies. They are unwilling to accept the truth because it will expose their weaknesses and make them look stupid.

Some may imagine I am referring to those who don’t accept evolution or climate change. In fact I am thinking of quite different groups: those who are in denial about the abuse of vulnerable people in our society; those who refuse to see evil in the culture of some minority groups because they are afraid of the charge of discrimination.

Jesus told the Jewish leaders that, if they would only let the facts speak for themselves, they would accept that He was God’s Messiah. I am willing to do that. Are you?

Babble

Have you ever tried to learn a language?

Languages have, I suppose, been my thing ever since childhood. This is despite the fact that I can easily become tongue-tied, even in speaking English!

I am still picking up new ones. Currently I am having a go at Welsh, and discovering how a language which is on my doorstep can be so very different from my own.

When learning a language I see myself as trying to pick up some of the pieces that were left behind after Babel. The story of Babel is found in Genesis Chapter 11. Some scholars think that this story reflects the rise of cities in ancient civilisations. They believe that our original ancestors lived in very small and scattered communities, with their backs to the wall in the constant battle against Nature. Babel reflects a time when the emerging groups deliberately banded together to form great cities with imposing structures, thus attempting to stamp their authority on both Nature and the people who lived in their neighbourhood.

Those who planned to build the city of Babel wanted to include a massive tower with its top in heaven. While uniting for their own protection, they were overreaching themselves and looking away from God as the true provider of their safety and security.

God is recorded as coming down to look at their city and the tower which they had built. He said,

“Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 12:7 ESV).

It may not be a mere coincidence that “Babel” and “babble” look similar. Some in ancient times called those who spoke outlandish tongues “barbarians”, which meant they uttered babbling, incomprehensible sounds.

Going back to the Babel story, we read that God dispersed the would-be tower-builders from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. I reckon He made a good job of confusing the language at Babel. There is now virtually nothing which all the world’s languages can be said to have in common. Yet at one glorious point in time God openly reversed what He had done at Babel as a sign to all of us about what He will achieve. That moment was the sending of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’s followers at Jerusalem after the Saviour’s resurrection.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:1-6).

Whether in jumbling up languages or bringing them together again in mighty power, God leaves us all speechless. He seeks to reunite us ... but not for any displays of human pride. It is His choice to scatter us in confusion or to unite us in Christ.

Home from home

One of the joys of being single is that kind people, from time to time, let you into their lives for a while. It may be through opening their lives up to you in friendship or being a guest in their home.

Sometimes I am invited to house-sit for friends, to come and look after their home while they are away. Then they leave food and give you a chance to have a change of scene. It is an act of kindness and friendship even though you do not have their company during that time.

Of course, living for a while in someone else's home is not like being in your own. You are very much aware that you are in a space that has been formed and fashioned by others. It is their history that is all around you, not yours. But in some ways it doesn't matter to me so much. As I am the only occupant at my home address, there are limits to what I can do by way of homebuilding. When I leave the bungalow to go on holiday I haven't exactly left behind a place with my own stamp on it.

Thus, when I return, it will be to roof over my head, the place where I store my things, rather than being "home" in the sense of a family home. So that makes the experience of being in somebody else's home quite a novelty. I see their interests displayed in every room: their hobbies, the pictures and photographs of ones they love. The wife in the home where I go is a keen gardener and the garden is colourful and beautiful; it has her imprint all over it. I particularly love relaxing in the family's sun lounge, where even more plants are growing in profusion.

My experience reminds me of my Saviour when He was on earth. Jesus said that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. Even foxes have their holes and birds their nests, but He, the Lord of all, with a right to feel at home anywhere in the universe, is denied that advantage while on the earth. He too was blessed by the hospitality of others: various prominent women of the neighbourhood undertook to look after Him, to give Him somewhere to stay and to meet His needs. He never allowed Himself to forget the blessing of their hospitality. But he was acutely aware that His home was somewhere else: His home was in heaven.

I remember disappointing one lady, many years ago, when she asked me what turned out to be a trick question: where did I consider to be home? I said I didn't know; I went through a list of a number of places which had had significance for me during my life, but I wasn't sure. "Oh," she replied, "I thought you would say your home was in heaven." 

I felt intensely irritated. It seemed to me that I had been caught out and I had not come up with the expected pious answer. I had not, in other words, met expectations. I still feel uncomfortable about that to this day. Of course, it goes without saying that home for a thorough Christian is not on earth but elsewhere. We already live under a new set of neighbourhood rules, the laws of the kingdom of heaven. We have a new head of government. The King in all His beauty and majesty is close at hand all the time, running the affairs of this precious kingdom. Believers once there will never feel out of place again.

Some people comment that I often look like a lost soul wandering around. If that is a witness to my belief that this life isn't all there is and I am not earthbound, I can't be going far wrong.

If Only …

Cindy Hess Kasper’s recent article in Our Daily Bread certainly rang bells for me. She was thinking about the incident where Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb. At first, Jesus had delayed coming when called. Mary rushed out to meet Him.

“Lord,” she moaned, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32 ESV).

“If only ...”

It is the most natural reaction in the world. From a very young age we think of what might have been. I remember slipping in the bath as a child. My parents came in to rescue me. I kept crying, “I could have drowned.” The simple fact was, I didn’t, and I am still here to tell the tale.

Cindy had a memory of her own. “As we exited the parking lot, my husband slowed the car to wait for a young woman riding her bike. When Tom nodded to indicate she could go first, she smiled, waved, and rode on. Moments later, the driver from a parked SUV threw his door open, knocking the young bicyclist to the pavement. Her legs bleeding, she cried as she examined her bent-up bike.
Later, we reflected on the accident:

“’If only we had made her wait … If only the driver had looked before opening his door. If only …’ Difficulties catch us up in a cycle of second-guessing ourselves.

“’If only I had known my child was with teens who were drinking … If only we had found the cancer earlier …’

“When unexpected trouble comes,” she comments, “we sometimes question the goodness of God. We may even feel the despair that Martha and Mary experienced when their brother died. Oh, if Jesus had only come when He first found out that Lazarus was sick!

“Like Martha and Mary, we don’t always understand why hard things happen to us. But we can rest in the knowledge that God is working out His purposes for a greater good. In every circumstance, we can trust the wisdom of our faithful and loving God.”

I feel grateful to Cindy for drawing our attention to this topic. The “if only” questions display both a lack of reasoning (it is illogical to distress yourself about something that never happened) and a lack of faith. In a sense, Mary’s sister Martha belatedly showed more faith than her sibling. She too lamented,

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,”

but she then added,

“But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (John 11:21-22).

There is one “if only” that we seldom if ever give voice to, and it is the only one that should really be important to us. If we fail to put our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we face an eternity cut off from God. That surely is the greatest disaster of all, and one which Jesus gladly prays His heavenly Father to deliver His trusting followers from.

Be Salty

Recently my table salt ran out so I had to buy a new salt mill. It was strange how the salt seemed to have a fresh, tangy taste. They say salt shouldn’t go off, but it does seem to lose something of its edge over time.

This reminds me of two passages in the Bible in particular.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16 ESV

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:5-6

Jesus tells His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” This is often used of people who have lived long in their communities and are looked up to as productive, reliable and worthy. I often think that about older folk I look back on in our churches. Often they came to know Jesus as their Saviour when young, and had a lot of experience of Christian living. Yet too often you just got the feeling that something had come adrift somewhere. It wasn’t that they had turned their backs on Jesus or were becoming gross sinners. It might show in one of two opposite ways. Either the older person would speak his or her mind, regardless of who was going to be hurt, or else everything seemed to wash over them. They weren’t prepared to be critical about things that were wrong in their community or in the church.

You feel that older, experienced Christians should be the first to notice when a church or a leader was slipping into apostasy - being a bully, perhaps, or neglecting truth. Sadly, when you hoped they would be the first to voice concern, they would frequently wave the issue away with “Oh, well, that’s the way things are nowadays; you’ve got to make allowances”. No, we shouldn’t, if something is against God’s word in the Bible.

“To grow old is to change often, because we live in a changing world,” one very elderly preacher commented as he gave his “swan song” at the local preachers’ meeting. His younger colleagues drank in his every word. It sounded like wisdom based on maturity, and perhaps it was, up to a point. But we are not to change with every fashion. That way we become insipid and lose our tang.

I am a Christian now because a perceptive minister did not go with the flow. Most people around me were thinking to themselves, “We must humour Timothy; he is a promising young leader.” The older man challenged me straight out. “Your thinking is just like that of a run-of-the-mill Western philosopher. You do not think the way the Bible does.” That night I knew I was in the wrong and gave my life over to Christ.

If Jesus is more important to you than the world is, be salty. Be prepared, humbly and prayerfully, to speak out when appropriate. Above all, make sure to keep your keen edge. Jesus did. It may just help somebody.